Performing coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) in a wireless communication network

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the field of coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) in wireless communication networks, in particular to methods, an apparatus, and a network node for use in performing coordinated data transmissions in a wireless communication network. A method for use in a network node for coordinating data transmission to user equipments in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network comprising at least two access nodes each access node having one or more antennas and being arranged to perform coordinated data transmissions to user equipments is provided. The method comprising: obtaining signal strength values associated with the one or more antennas of the at least two access nodes for a number of user equipments; arranging the number of user equipments into one or more groups of user equipments and associating each of the one or more groups of user equipments with a sub-set of the one or more antennas of the at least two access nodes based on the obtained signal strength values; and coordinating data transmission performed by the at least two access nodes to each of the one or more groups of user equipments based on the subset of the one or more antennas of the at least two access nodes associated with each group of user equipments, respectively.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of coordinated multipointtransmission and reception (CoMP) in wireless communication networks, inparticular to a method, an apparatus, and a network node for use inperforming coordinated data transmissions in a wireless communicationnetwork.

BACKGROUND

Cell grouping is a well-known technique for improving and managinginterference in cellular wireless communication networks. Already for 2G wireless communication network planning (on rather long time horizon,days typically), inter-cell interference measurements are performed togroup cells together, in order to minimize radio interference and makecell and/or frequency planning more efficient.

For future wireless communication networks, an important method toincrease both coverage and capacity is to use cell cooperation forsignal transmission and reception between nodes in the network and userequipments located in the cooperating cells. This is generally referredto as coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP). Thiscooperation can be used in downlink communication for scheduling anddata transmission using, for example, beam forming or joint coherentprocessing and transmissions, or in uplink communication, where amultitude of antennas are used to suppress and cancel interference andincrease the signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. It has been suggested tointroduce CoMP in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE/SAE) wirelesscommunication system, but it should also be noted that CoMP is alsoapplicable for other wireless communication systems, such as, forexample, WiMax.

Although it is desired to build large CoMP cells of cooperating cells inorder to minimize cell border effects that results in a worse user bitrate, cells in the network must be sub-divided into groups ofcooperating cells in order to keep computation complexity at reasonablelevels. However, the sub-division or formation of these groups ofcooperating cells, that is, CoMP cells, can pose a very difficult task.

Besides being able to be based on a numerous different physicalproperties, such as for example, geographical proximity, radio wavepropagation environment, traffic distributions and/or usingneighboring-cell relations, including mobility information, such ashandover statistics, the formation of a CoMP cell of cooperating cellsalso implies an increased level of hardware processing and backhaulcapacity as compared to conventionally deployed non-cooperative wirelesscommunication networks. The reasons for this increase include, forexample, more complex deployment scenarios with differently sized cells,sub-cells, etc., as well as the increased higher grade of coordinationbetween the cells on a shorter time scale.

Due to this inherent trade-off between an increased number of cellsincluded in a CoMP cell of cooperating cells and increased complexity, aproblem that may be experienced in forming CoMP cells of cooperatingcells is that the CoMP cells of cooperating cells do not show thecapacity or coverage performance as expected from their cooperating cellsize.

SUMMARY

It is an object to obviate at least some of the above disadvantages andachieve a method that provides improved CoMP cells of cooperating cells.

Accordingly, a method for use in a network node for coordinating datatransmissions to user equipments in a wireless communication network isprovided, wherein the wireless communication network comprises at leasttwo access nodes each having one or more antennas and being arranged toperform coordinated data transmissions to the user equipments. Themethod comprises: obtaining signal strength values associated with theone or more antennas of the at least two access nodes for a number ofuser equipments; arranging the number of user equipments into one ormore groups of user equipments and associating each of the one or moregroups of user equipments with a sub-set of the one or more antennas ofthe at least two access nodes based on the obtained signal strengthvalues; and coordinating data transmissions performed by the at leasttwo access nodes to each of the one or more groups of user equipmentsbased on the sub-set of the one or more antennas of the at least twoaccess nodes associated with each group of user equipments,respectively.

One advantage of the method is that it enables the identification of oneor more individual antennas of the at least two access nodes that hasthe most impact on a specific sub-group of user equipments in a CoMPcell of cooperating cells. By grouping the user equipments in the CoMPcell in accordance with sub-groups of user equipments based on theidentified individual antennas and coordinating data transmissionsperformed by the at least two access nodes in accordance with thesegroups of user equipments, an antenna-specific scheduling of thecoordinated data transmissions to the user equipments is enabled. Thisantenna-specific scheduling provides a higher degree of granularity anddiscrimination than what can be achieved in a conventional case whereinall of the antennas of the at least two access nodes may be forced tocontribute to the transmission to a specific user equipment even thoughsome individual antennas may have a connection to the specific userequipment which has very poor signal strength. Thus, it provides for asmaller and more efficient amount of antennas to be used in thecoordinated data transmissions, whereby an increased capacity and/orcoverage performance of CoMP cells of cooperating cells is providedwhich improve the CoMP cells of cooperating cells.

The method further provides the advantage of improving the utilizationof coordinated data transmissions to user equipments by allowing thebuilding of larger CoMP cells of cooperating cells, which minimize cellborder effects causing worse user bit rates, as well as reducingfeedback and scheduling complexity.

Arranging the number of user equipments and associating the one or moregroups of user equipments may further comprise: calculating antennarelationship values for each of the number of user equipments based onthe obtained signal strength values, and arranging the number of userequipments into one or more groups of user equipments and associatingeach of the one or more groups of user equipments with a sub-set of theone or more antennas of the at least two access nodes based on thecalculated antenna relationship values. This advantageously providesantenna relationship values for each of the user equipments which areindicative of the internal relationship between the obtained signalstrength values, and allows an estimate of the relative importance ofthe individual antennas associated with the signal strength values tothe connection towards the user equipment to be achieved and utilized.According to one example, the antenna relationship values could indicatehow the highest obtained signal strength value relates to each of theother obtained signal strength values.

Also, arranging the number of user equipments and associating the one ormore groups of user equipments based on the calculated antenna signalrelationship values may further comprise: comparing one or more of thecalculated antenna relationship values of each of the number of userequipments, and arranging the number of user equipments into one or moregroups of user equipments and associating each of the one or more groupsof user equipments with a sub-set of the one or more antennas of the atleast two access nodes based on the antenna relationship valuecomparison. This advantageously utilizes the antenna relationship valuesin order to identify important individual antennas for sub-groups ofuser equipments based on which the grouping of user equipments isperformed.

Furthermore, a first group of user equipments may be combined with asecond group of user equipments to form a combined third group of userequipments based on jointly associated antennas in the sub-sets of theone or more antennas of the access nodes associated with the first andsecond group of user equipments, respectively. This advantageouslyenables an automatic procedure for expanding the group of userequipments into a larger group of user equipments whenever it ispossible and preferred.

The method may also comprise dividing a first group of user equipmentsinto a second and third group of user equipments based on jointlyassociated antennas in the sub-sets of the one or more antennas of theaccess nodes associated with the second and third group of userequipments, respectively. In a similar manner as presented above, thisadvantageously enables an automatic procedure for decreasing the groupof user equipments into a smaller group of user equipments whenever itis possible and preferred.

Also, the combination of groups of user equipments may be stopped or thedivision of a group of user equipments may be initiated based on one ormore of: when one or more predetermined threshold number of antennas iscomprised in the sub-set of the one or more antennas of the at least twoaccess nodes associated with the group of user equipments, when one ormore predetermined threshold number of user equipments have beenassociated with the group of user equipments, when one or morepredetermined CoMP transmission multi-user limits has been reached forthe group of user equipments, when one or more predetermined channellimitations is reached for the group of user equipments, when one ormore predetermined transmission power limits are reached, when one ormore predetermined backhaul load thresholds are reached, or when one ormore predetermined uplink radio channel load thresholds are reached.This advantageously provides suitable limitations to the automaticprocedure for expanding the group of user equipments into a larger groupof user equipments or dividing a group of user equipments into smallergroups of user equipments, which otherwise may result in too large ortoo small groups of user equipments reducing the gains of the groups ofuser equipments and/or in approaching some inherent hardware orsignalling limitation.

Coordinating data transmissions performed by the at least two accessnodes to each of the one or more groups of user equipments may furthercomprise: scheduling each group of user equipments for downlinktransmission separately from each other in frequency and/or time, or onorthogonal resource blocks; and scheduling each user equipment within agroup of user equipments for downlink transmission together in frequencyand/or time, or on non-orthogonal resource blocks. This advantageouslyincreases the exploitation of the spatial domain diversity gains andlimits the scheduling and receiver complexity. It should also be notedthat these features may be particularly advantageous when implemented ina 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication system in whichuser equipments are configured to report antenna phase information. Thisantenna phase information may then be used when coordinating datatransmissions to the groups of user equipments.

Also, the method may further comprise: obtaining channel information fora group of user equipments to the sub-set of the one or more antennas ofthe access nodes associated with the group of user equipments; andcoordinating data transmissions to the group of user equipments based onthe obtained channel information. This advantageously enables thecollection of detailed channel information at limited costs in form ofoverhead.

Obtaining signal strength values associated with the one or moreantennas of the at least two access nodes for a number of userequipments may comprises receiving signal strength values measured atthe access nodes from the access nodes, or receiving signal strengthvalues measured at the user equipments from the user equipments via theaccess nodes. This advantageously provides two different alternativesfor obtaining the signal strength values.

The method described above may be performed repetitively with aperiodicity based on capturing slow fading. This advantageously providesfor a flexible procedure being performed on a relatively short timescale, such as, for example, once every second, increasing the gain fromthe scheduling coordination in frequency and time as previouslymentioned.

An apparatus for use in a network node for coordinating datatransmissions to user equipments in a wireless communication network isalso provided, wherein the wireless communication network comprises atleast two access nodes each having one or more antennas and beingarranged to perform coordinated data transmissions to the userequipments. The apparatus comprises: a retrieving unit configured toobtain signal strength values associated with the one or more antennasof the at least two access nodes for a number of user equipments, acooperating cell group unit configured to arrange the number of userequipments into one or more groups of user equipments and associate eachof the one or more groups of user equipments with a sub-set of the oneor more antennas of the at least two access nodes based on the signalstrength values obtained by the retrieving unit, and a cooperationscheduling unit configured to coordinate data transmission performed bythe at least two access nodes to each of the one or more groups of userequipments based on the sub-set of the one or more antennas of the atleast two access nodes associated with each group of user equipments,respectively, by the cooperating cell group unit.

In addition, a network node for use in a wireless communication networkcomprising an apparatus as described above is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become readily apparent to those skilled in the art by thefollowing detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication systemcomprising a number of access nodes and cells associated thereto,

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of user equipments locatedin the cells of three access nodes in FIG. 1 configured to performcoordinated data transmissions,

FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus according to an embodiment of theinvention,

FIGS. 4-5 schematically illustrates how coordinated data transmissionsmay be coordinated by the apparatus in FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 7 illustrates a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE/SAE) wirelesscommunication system having a network node comprising an apparatus shownin FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION

The figures are schematic and simplified for clarity, and they merelyshow details which are essential to the understanding of the invention,while other details have been left out. Throughout, the same referencenumerals are used for identical or corresponding parts or steps. It mayalso be noted that the expression “user equipment” (UE) includes, but isnot limited to, a mobile terminal, a mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant, a mobile station, a portable computer equipped with suitabletransceivers, a stationary computer equipped with suitable transceiversand the like.

In FIG. 1, an example of a wireless communication system 100 comprisinga plurality of access nodes 101, 102, 103 is illustrated. The wirelesscommunication system 100 may be, for example, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE/SAE) wireless communication system or any wireless communicationsystem suitable for providing downlink coordinated multipoint (CoMP)data transmissions to user equipments. The access nodes 101, 102, 103may be access nodes, such as, for example, an eNodeB in a 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE/SAE) wireless communication system. The access nodes 101,102, 103 may be connected and configured to communicate with each otherover, for example, an X2 connection 104. The access nodes 101, 102, 103comprise one or more antennas per cell for wireless radio communicationwith user equipments located within their covering range.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of user equipments locatedin the cells 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209 of the accessnodes 101, 102, 103. The access node 101 may be configured to providewireless radio coverage to user equipments in cells 201, 202, 203. Theaccess node 102 may be configured to provide wireless radio coverage touser equipments in cells 204, 205, 206. The access node 103 may beconfigured to provide wireless radio coverage to user equipments incells 207, 208, 209.

In FIG. 2, the neighboring cells 203, 206, 209 are comprised in a CoMPcell of cooperating cells of the access nodes 101, 102, 103, that is, aCoMP cell of cooperating cells is formed by the cell 203 of the accessnode 101, the cell 206 of the access node 102, and the cell 209 of theaccess node 103 (marked with vertical lines in FIG. 2). This means that,within these neighboring cells 203, 206, 209, the access nodes 101, 102,103 are configured to perform coordinated data transmissions, i.e. ableto combine signals of multiple antennas to form a joint coordinatedtransmission of data, to the user equipments located therein.

It has been recognised, for example, that within large CoMP cells ofcooperating cells, during a coordinated data transmission, there may beindividual antennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103 that have very lowsignal strength for their respective connection to particular userequipments located within the CoMP cell of cooperating cells, but arestill used as contributors in the coordinated data transmission to theseparticular user equipments. An illustrative example is shown in FIG. 2,wherein this may be the case for one or more of the antennas of theaccess node 101 for a coordinated data transmission to one or more userequipments in cell 209, and/or for one or more of the antennas of theaccess node 102 for a coordinated data transmission to one or more userequipments in cell 203, and/or for one or more of the antennas of theaccess node 103 for a coordinated data transmission to one or more userequipments in cell 206. However, it should be noted that although thedistance to an access node is used herein for illustrative purposes asindicative of the signal strength, it is commonly known that manydifferent factors may influence the actual signal strength to an accessnode for a user equipment, such as, for example, network topology,topography of the surrounding environment, buildings, etc.

However, in these illustrative examples, the individual antennas of theaccess nodes 101, 102, 103 may thus be wasting their resources onconnections with very low signal strength in which their contribution islimited, rather than being used for other connections where they mayprovide a more efficient contribution. This leads to a poor utilizationof coordinated data transmissions to user equipments in large CoMP cellsof cooperating cells, and in that these large CoMP cells of cooperatingcells do not show the capacity or coverage performance as expected fromtheir cooperating cell size.

These issues are addressed by the embodiments described in more detailbelow with reference to FIGS. 3-7.

FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus 300 for coordinating data transmissionsto user equipments in a wireless communication network 100 according toan embodiment of the invention. The apparatus 300 may, for example, becomprised in one of the access node 101, 102, 103. The apparatus 300 isconfigured to coordinate data transmissions to user equipments performedby the access nodes 101, 102, 103 in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells203, 206, 209 shown in FIG. 2. The apparatus 300 may comprise aretrieving unit 301, a cooperating cell group unit 302 and a cooperationscheduling unit 303.

The retrieving unit 301 is configured to obtain a number of signalstrength values that are associated with the one or more antennas of theaccess nodes 101, 102, 103 for each of a number of user equipments.Signal strength may also be referred to as path gain or path loss whencompensating for transmission power. At the access node 101, 102, 103,each signal received at an antenna port of the one or more antennas ofthe access nodes 101, 102, 103 from a user equipment may be measured. Asignal strength value indicative of the measured signal strength maythen be sent from the access nodes 101, 102, 103 to the retrieving unit301. Optionally, the retrieving unit 301 may be configured to retrievethe signal strength value from the access nodes 101, 102, 103. Hence,signal strength values associated with the one or more antennas of theaccess nodes 101, 102, 103 may be obtained for each of a number of userequipments by using uplink transmissions from user equipments. In an LTEwireless communication system, for example, power control is commonlyused on uplink transmissions from the user equipments. In such cases, itmay be advantageous to use path gain or path loss measurements whichtake the transmission power of uplink transmissions from the userequipments into account.

In some embodiments, the retrieving unit 301 may be configured to obtainthe number of signal strength values that are associated with the one ormore antennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103 from each of the numberof user equipments. In this case, a user equipment which has received asignal from an antenna port of the one or more antennas of the accessnodes 101, 102, 103, may measure the signal strength of the receivedsignal from the antenna port at the user equipment. The received signalmay be measured, for example, on pilot signals such as the ReferenceSymbols (RS) that may be used in an LTE wireless communication system.The user equipment may then report a signal strength value indicative ofthe measured signal strength to the retrieving unit 301 via the one ormore of the access nodes 101, 102, 103. Thus, the retrieving unit 301may receive the signal strength value from the user equipment associatedwith the antenna port of the one or more antennas of the access nodes101, 102, 103. Hence, signal strength values associated with the one ormore antennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103 may also be obtained foreach of a number of user equipments by using downlink transmissions fromuser equipments. In some embodiments, the retrieving unit 301 mayoptionally be configured to also obtain antenna phase information foreach received antenna signal from the access nodes 101, 102, 103. Thisinformation may be provided by and received from the user equipments.This may, for example, be performed when the apparatus 300 isimplemented in a wireless communication system in which user equipmentsare configured to report any form of antenna phase information for eachreceived antenna signal from the access nodes 101, 102, 103, such as,for example, using pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI) reporting in theuser equipments.

The cooperating cell group unit 302 may receive the obtained signalstrength values from the retrieving unit 301. Based on the obtainedsignal strength values, the cooperating cell group unit 302 may arrangethe number of user equipments into groups of user equipments, such as,for example, the groups of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232,233 shown in FIG. 5. Furthermore, based on the obtained signal strengthvalues, the cooperating cell group unit 302 may also be configured toassociate each of the groups of user equipments, such as, for example,the groups of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 shown inFIG. 5, with a sub-set of individual antennas of the access nodes 101,102, 103, as described in more detail in reference to FIG. 4.

The cooperation scheduling unit 303 may, based on the sub-set of theindividual antennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103 associated witheach group of user equipments, respectively, coordinate the datatransmission that is performed by the access nodes 101, 102, 103 to eachof the groups of user equipments, such as, for example, the groups ofuser equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 shown in FIG. 5.

In some embodiments of the apparatus 300, the cooperation schedulingunit 304 may further be configured to schedule each group of userequipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 for downlink transmissionseparately from each other in frequency and/or time, or on orthogonalresource blocks when coordinating the data transmission. The cooperationscheduling unit 304 may further be configured to schedule each userequipment within a group of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231,232, 233 for downlink transmission together in frequency and/or time, oron non-orthogonal resource blocks. This may, for example, be performedwhen the apparatus 300 is implemented in a LTE wireless communicationsystem in which user equipments may be configured to report antennaphase information, such as, for example, the CoMP PMI reports previouslydescribed. In some embodiments of the apparatus 300, the cooperationscheduling unit 304 may also be configured to obtain channel informationfor a group of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 to thesub-set of the one or more antennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103associated with the group of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231,232, 233, and coordinate data transmission to the group of userequipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 based on the obtainedchannel information.

It should also be noted that the different groups of user equipments,such as, for example, the groups of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221,231, 232, 233 shown in FIG. 5, may comprise partly the same antennas.This is because the joint coordinated data transmissions for each groupof user equipments may be performed on different orthogonal resources asdescribed above. This enables overlapping groups of user equipments,i.e. CoMP groups, without experiencing any disadvantageous bordereffects. Thus, the border of the groups of user equipments shown in FIG.5 is to be understood merely for illustrative purposes.

It should be noted that one or more of the retrieving unit 301, thecooperating cell group unit 302 and the cooperation scheduling unit 303may be implemented in one or more processing units (not shown) which maycomprise logic for performing the functionality of the apparatus 300. Apart, parts or all of the apparatus's 300 functionality may beimplemented by means of a software or computer program. The processingunit(s) may also comprise storage means or a memory unit for storing thecomputer program and processing means, such as, for example, amicroprocessor, for executing the computer program. The storage meansmay also be readable storage medium separated from, but connected to theprocessing unit. When, in the following, it is described that any one ofthe retrieving unit 301, the cooperating cell group unit 302 and/or thecooperation scheduling unit 303 performs a certain action or function itis to be understood that a processing unit(s) in the apparatus 300 mayuse its processing means to execute a certain part of the software orcomputer program which is stored in its storage means to perform thisaction or function.

FIGS. 4-5 schematically illustrates an example of how the cooperatingcell group unit 302 in the apparatus 300 enables and coordinates thedata transmissions in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the accessnodes 101, 102, 103.

In FIG. 4, a user equipment 440 is comprised in a CoMP cell ofcooperating cells of the access nodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424. Each ofthe access nodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424 is configured with a number ofantennas. In this case, for illustrative purposes, the number ofantennas per access node 420, 421, 422, 423, 424 is limited to oneantenna having one antenna port (not shown). However, it is to beunderstood that any number of antennas having any number of antennaports may be used in a similar manner. The antenna port at each accessnode 420, 421, 422, 423, 424 may receive a signal s_(i) from the userequipment 440 at a moment in time t₁. From each antenna port at eachaccess node 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, the retrieving unit 301 may obtaina signal strength value indicative of the measured signal strength ofthe signal s_(i) received by each antenna port. In this example, thehighest signal strength value may, for example, be obtained for theantenna signal s_(high) at the antenna port of the antenna at the accessnode 420.

The cooperating cell group unit 302 may then, based on the signalstrength values, calculate antenna relationship values. The antennarelationship values may also be referred to as antenna geometry valuesor antenna-pair-geometry values. The calculation may, for example, beperformed by calculating how the highest signal strength value relatesto each of the other signal strength values. This may, for example, beperformed for each signal strength value s_(i) indicative of the signalreceived by each antenna port of each antenna at each access node 420,421, 422, 423, 424 for the user equipment 440 according to the exemplaryformula (1) shown below.

$\begin{matrix}{S_{i} = {\log_{10}{\left\{ \frac{10^{S_{high}}}{10^{S_{i}}} \right\}\;\left\lbrack {d\; B} \right\rbrack}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

The antenna relationship values S_(i) will also indicate how much eachantenna port of each antenna at each access node 420, 421, 422, 423, 424will contribute to a downlink coordinated data transmission to the userequipment 440 in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the access nodes420, 421, 422, 423, 424.

For example, it may be found that the signal s_(high) at the antennaport of the antenna of the access node 420 and the signal s₃ at theantenna port of the antenna at the access node 423 have a significantlylarger signal strength towards the user equipment 440 at time t₁ thanthe signals s₁, s₂ and s₄ at the antenna ports of the antennas at theaccess nodes 421, 422, 424. It may then be assumed that the potentialcontribution of the antenna ports of the antennas at the access nodes421, 422, 424 to a downlink coordinated data transmission to the userequipment 440 in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the access nodes420, 421, 422, 423, 424 is very small. Consequently, it may beadvantageous to only allocate the antenna ports of the antennas at theaccess nodes 420, 423 for downlink coordinated data transmissions to theuser equipment 440 in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the accessnodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424. The antenna ports of the antennas at theaccess nodes 421, 422, 424 may instead be allocated to other downlinkcoordinated data transmissions to another user equipment in the CoMPcell of cooperating cells of the access nodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424 towhich their contribution is more significant. This may be performed bythe cooperating cell group unit 302 by arranging the user equipment 440into a group of user equipments for which, for the same reasons as forthe user equipment 440, it may be advantageous to only allocate theantenna ports of the antennas at the access nodes 420, 423 for downlinkcoordinated data transmissions. The cooperating cell group unit 302 thenassociates this group of user equipments with this sub-set of antennaports of the antennas of the access nodes in the CoMP cell ofcooperating cells of the access nodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, that is,the sub-set of antenna ports of the antennas at the access nodes 420,423. This process may be performed by the cooperating cell group unit302 repetitively with a periodicity based on capturing slow fading.According to one example, a suitable periodicity may be about once everysecond in a current LTE wireless communication system. According toanother example, a suitable periodicity may be once every time a signalstrength measurement is obtained, such as, for example, when a userequipment 440 sends a report. In an LTE wireless communication system,for example, a user equipment 440 may be configured to report new signalstrength measurements based on predetermined threshold values orsuitable periodic timers.

Comparing the calculated antenna relationship values for a number ofuser equipments in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the accessnodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, arranging the number of user equipmentsinto one or more groups of user equipments, and associating this groupof user equipments with a sub-set of antenna ports of the antennas ofthe access nodes in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the accessnodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424 may be performed in a number of differentways by the cooperating cell group unit 302. One alternative is todetermine the one or more groups of user equipments based on acomparison of the N number of strongest antenna relationships that eachuser equipment has according to each user equipment's calculated antennarelationship values S_(i). For example, the top-3 strongest antennarelationships for all user equipments are compared and serve as thebasis for determining the one or more groups of user equipments and thesubsequent sub-set of antenna ports of the antennas of the access nodesin the CoMP cell of cooperating cells of the access nodes 420, 421, 422,423, 424. Another alternative is to determine a group of user equipmentsbased on a comparison of the calculated antenna relationships valuesS_(i) which falls within a predetermined threshold value from thestrongest calculated antenna relationship value. For example, thecalculated antenna relationship values S_(i) of a user equipment fallingwithin 2 dB (63%) of the strongest calculated antenna relationship valueS_(i) may be used to form a group of user equipments and the subsequentsub-set of antenna ports of the antennas of the access nodes in the CoMPcell of cooperating cells of the access nodes 420, 421, 422, 423, 424.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an example of resulting groups of userequipments to which downlink coordinated data transmissions may becoordinated by the cooperating cell group unit 302 in the apparatus 300described in reference to FIGS. 3-4. In one exemplary scenario:

-   -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of all of the        access nodes 101, 102, 103 participating in the CoMP cell of        cooperating cells may be allocated for downlink coordinated data        transmissions to a group of user equipments 221,    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        nodes 102, 103 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating        cells may be allocated for downlink coordinated data        transmissions to a group of user equipments 231,    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        nodes 101, 103 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating        cells may be allocated for downlink coordinated data        transmissions to a group of user equipments 232,    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        nodes 101, 102 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating        cells may be allocated for downlink coordinated data        transmissions to a group of user equipments 233,    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        node 101 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells may        be allocated for downlink coordinated data transmissions to a        group of user equipments 211,    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        node 102 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells may        be allocated for downlink coordinated data transmissions to a        group of user equipments 212, and    -   one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas of the access        node 103 participating in the CoMP cell of cooperating cells may        be allocated for downlink coordinated data transmissions to a        group of user equipments 213.

In view of the groups of user equipments formed by the cooperating cellgroup unit 302 in the apparatus 300, such as the exemplary groups ofuser equipments described above, the cooperating cell group unit 302 mayfurther be configured to combine one of the groups of user equipments,e.g. group 232, with another group of user equipments, e.g. group 221,to form a combined third group of user equipments, i.e. a group of userequipments comprising the user equipments in group 232 and group 221.This combination of groups of user equipments may, for example, be basedon jointly associated antenna ports in the sub-sets of the one or moreantenna ports of one or more antennas of the access nodes associatedwith the group of user equipments 232 and the group of user equipments221, respectively. Thus, the cooperating cell group unit 302 is able toautomatically expand a group of user equipments into a larger group ofuser equipments whenever possible and/or preferred.

The cooperating cell group unit 302 may be configured to perform thecombination of groups of user equipments, for example, in the order ofthe highest number of jointly associated antenna ports or in the orderof the smallest group of user equipments (i.e. the group of userequipments comprising the lowest number of user equipments). Thecombination of groups of user equipments may also be performed by thecooperating cell group unit 302, for example, when the two groups ofuser equipments (e.g. group 221 and group 232) are associated with alarge number of the same antenna ports exceeding a predeterminedthreshold number of jointly associated antenna ports, or based on thesize of the groups of user equipments (e.g. when the size of a group ofuser equipments is below a predetermined threshold number of userequipments).

Also, the cooperating cell group unit 302 may be configured to stop thecombination of groups of user equipments for combined groups of userequipments. This may, for example, be performed when a predeterminedthreshold number of antenna ports are comprised in the sub-set of theone or more antenna ports of the one or more antennas of the accessnodes associated with the combined group of user equipments. It may alsobe performed, for example, when a predetermined threshold number of userequipments have been associated with the group of user equipments, whena CoMP transmission multi-user limit has been reached for the group ofuser equipments, when a transmission power limit has been reached and/orwhen a channel limitation is reached for the group of user equipments.This may be performed in order to prevent a combined group of userequipments from becoming too large. Too large combined groups of userequipments may result in reduced gains of the group of user equipmentsand/or in approaching some inherent hardware or signaling limitation ofthe antennas or access nodes. For example, in order to limit the userequipment report signalling, the combination of groups of userequipments may be stopped when the uplink radio resources reach acertain load threshold. According to another example, to limit the CoMPtransmission load, the combination of groups of user equipments may bestopped when the backhaul load reach a certain predetermined threshold.

The cooperating cell group unit 302 may be configured to divide a groupof user equipments, e.g. the combined group of user equipments 232 and221, into two separate groups of user equipments, e.g. group 232 andgroup 221 as shown in FIG. 5. This division of groups of user equipmentsmay in a similar manner as for the combination of groups of userequipments, for example, be based on jointly associated antenna ports inthe sub-sets of the one or more antenna ports of one or more antennas ofthe access nodes associated with the group of user equipments 232 andthe group of user equipments 221, respectively. Any one, or combination,of the criterias listen above that may be used when combining groups ofuser equipments may in a corresponding manner also be used for dividinggroups of user equipments.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention. In step S601, the signal strength values may be obtained. Thesignal strength values may each be associated with the one or moreantennas of the access nodes 101, 102, 103 for a number of userequipments. In step S602, the number of user equipments may be arrangedinto one or more groups of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232,233 based on the obtained signal strength values in step S601. Further,based on the obtained signal strength values in step S601, each group ofuser equipments 211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233 may then also beassociated with a sub-set of the one or more antennas of the accessnodes 101, 102, 103. In step S603, coordinated data transmissionsperformed by the access nodes 101, 102, 103 may then be coordinated toeach of the one or more groups of user equipments 211, 212, 213, 221,231, 232, 233 based on the sub-set of the one or more antennas of theaccess nodes 101, 102, 103 associated with each group of user equipments211, 212, 213, 221, 231, 232, 233, respectively, in step 502.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic overview of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE/SAE) wireless communication network 100. The wireless communicationnetwork 100 may comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 101, a MobilityManagement Entity (MME) 130, 131, an access node 120, 121, 122 and auser equipment (UE) 140. The access node 120, 121, 122, such as a radiobase station network node or eNode B, is served by the MME 130, 131.Each access node 120, 121, 122 is associated with at least one cell 110,111, 112. The HSS 101 and the MME 130, 131 may further be referred to ascore network nodes 101, 130, 131. Hence, the expression “core networknode” is to be understood as primarily meaning any one of the HSS 101and the MME 130, 131. However, the expression “core network node” mayalso extend to cover other central network entity nodes, such as,Operation and Management nodes (O&M), Operation and Support System nodes(OSS), or shared database nodes (may be used for synchronisation ofcommon data in MME pools).

It should also be noted that the apparatus 300 and the methodillustrated in FIG. 6 as described in reference to the embodiments abovemay also, besides being able to be comprised in an access node, be ableto be comprised in any one of the core network nodes referred to above.Thus, referring to a network node herein and throughout the followingclaims should be understood as meaning either one of the access nodes orcore network nodes.

It should also be noted that in addition to the exemplary embodimentsshown in the accompanying drawings, the invention may be embodied indifferent forms and therefore should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a network nodeconfigured for operation in a wireless communication network: obtainingreceived signal strength values for each user equipment among aplurality of user equipments, with respect to each antenna among aplurality of antennas associated with two or more access nodes to beused as a cooperating cell group for Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) datatransmissions to the user equipments, wherein at least one of the accessnodes includes two or more antennas available for use in the CoMP datatransmissions; calculating antenna relationship values for each userequipment with respect to the plurality of antennas, based on thereceived signal strength values; identifying which ones of the pluralityof antennas are most important for each user equipment, based on theantenna relationship values calculated for the user equipment; arrangingthe plurality of user equipments into two or more groups, so that theuser equipments in each group have one or more important antennas incommon; and associating subsets of the plurality of antennas with thegroups, such that each group is allocated one or more of the antennasidentified as being important for the user equipments in the group andsuch that the CoMP data transmissions to the user equipments in eachgroup use only the associated subset of antennas; and coordinating theCoMP data transmissions to the plurality of user equipments from thecooperating cell set based on scheduling the groups of user equipmentsseparately and scheduling the user equipments in each group together. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein arranging the plurality of userequipments into groups includes limiting a maximum size of any one groupbased on observing one or more predefined limits, including at least oneof: a predetermined threshold number limiting the number of antennasthat can be included in any of the associated subsets of antennas; apredetermined threshold number limiting the number user equipments thatcan be included in any group; one or more predetermined channellimitations; one or more predetermined backhaul load thresholds; one ormore predetermined uplink radio channel load thresholds; and one or morepredetermined transmission power limits.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising combining or dividing groups to minimize the numberof groups while observing the one or more predefined limits.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein identifying which ones of the plurality ofantennas are most important for each user equipment comprisescalculating antenna geometry-pair values that relate a highest receivedsignal strength value obtained for the user equipment with respect tothe plurality of antennas to the other received signal strength valuesobtained for the user equipment with respect to the plurality ofantennas.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein arranging the plurality ofuser equipments into two or more groups comprises identifying theindividual antennas among the plurality of antennas corresponding to theN highest received signal strength values obtained for each userequipment, where N is an integer number >0, and grouping the userequipments so that the user equipments in each group have one or more ofthe same antennas associated with their respective N highest receivedsignal strength values.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein arranging theplurality of user equipments into two or more groups comprisesidentifying the individual antennas among the plurality of antennascorresponding to received signal strength values obtained for each userequipment that fall within a defined range with respect to a highestreceived signal strength value obtained for the user equipment, andgrouping the user equipments so that the user equipments in each grouphave one or more of the same individually identified antennas.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein obtaining the received signal strength valuescomprises obtaining uplink received signal strength values, as measuredat each of the plurality of antennas with respect to uplinktransmissions from each user equipment.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein obtaining the received signal strength values comprisesobtaining downlink received signal strength values, as measured at eachof the user equipments with respect to each of the plurality ofantennas.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein coordinating the CoMP datatransmissions to the plurality of user equipments from the cooperatingcell set comprises: scheduling the CoMP data transmissions to therespective groups separately in time or frequency; and scheduling theCoMP data transmissions to the user equipments in each group together intime or frequency.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein coordinating theCoMP data transmissions to the plurality of user equipments from thecooperating cell set comprises: scheduling the CoMP data transmissionsto the respective groups separately using orthogonal resource blocks;and scheduling the CoMP data transmissions to the user equipments ineach group together using non-orthogonal resource blocks.
 11. Anapparatus configured for operation in a network node that is configuredfor operation in a wireless communication network, said apparatuscomprising: a communication interface configured to obtain receivedsignal strength values for each user equipment among a plurality of userequipments, with respect to each antenna among a plurality of antennasassociated with two or more access nodes to be used as a cooperatingcell group for Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) data transmissions to theuser equipments, wherein at least one of the access nodes includes twoor more antennas available for use in the CoMP data transmissions; and aprocessing circuit that is configured to: calculate antenna relationshipvalues for each user equipment with respect to the plurality ofantennas, based on the received signal strength values; identify whichones of the plurality of antennas are most important for each userequipment, based on the antenna relationship values calculated for theuser equipment; arrange the plurality of user equipments into two ormore groups, such that the user equipments in each group have one ormore important antennas in common; and associate subsets of theplurality of antennas with each groups, such that each group isallocated one or more of the antennas identified as being important forthe user equipments in the group and such that the CoMP datatransmissions to the user equipments in each group use only theassociated subset of antennas; and coordinate the CoMP datatransmissions to the plurality of user equipments from the cooperatingcell set based on scheduling the groups of user equipments separatelyand scheduling the user equipments in each group together.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein, in association with arranging theplurality of user equipments into groups, the processing circuit isconfigured to limit a maximum size of any one group based on observingone or more predefined limits, including at least one of: apredetermined threshold number limiting the number of antennas that canbe included in any of the associated subsets of antennas; apredetermined threshold number limiting the number user equipments thatcan be included in any group; one or more predetermined channellimitations; one or more predetermined backhaul load thresholds; one ormore predetermined uplink radio channel load thresholds; and one or morepredetermined transmission power limits.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the processing circuit is configured to combine or divide groupsto minimize the number of groups while observing the one or morepredefined limits.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the processingcircuit is configured to identify which ones of the plurality ofantennas are most important for each user equipment by calculatingantenna geometry-pair values that relate a highest received signalstrength value obtained for the user equipment with respect to theplurality of antennas to the other received signal strength valuesobtained for the user equipment with respect to the plurality ofantennas.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitis configured to arrange the plurality of user equipments into two ormore groups by identifying the individual antennas among the pluralityof antennas corresponding to the N highest received signal strengthvalues obtained for each user equipment, where N is an integernumber >0, and grouping the user equipments so that the user equipmentsin each group have one or more of the same antennas associated withtheir respective N highest received signal strength values.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured toarrange the plurality of user equipments into two or more groups byidentifying the individual antennas among the plurality of antennascorresponding to received signal strength values obtained for each userequipment that fall within a defined range with respect to a highestreceived signal strength value obtained for the user equipment, andgrouping the user equipments so that the user equipments in each grouphave one or more of the same individually identified antennas.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured toobtain the received signal strength values by obtaining uplink receivedsignal strength values, as measured at each of the plurality of antennaswith respect to uplink transmissions from each user equipment.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured toobtain the received signal strength values by obtaining downlinkreceived signal strength values, as measured at each of the userequipments with respect to each of the plurality of antennas.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured tocoordinate the CoMP data transmissions to the plurality of userequipments from the cooperating cell set based on being configured to:schedule the CoMP data transmissions to the respective groups separatelyin time or frequency; and schedule the CoMP data transmissions to theuser equipments in each group together in time or frequency.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is configured to coordinatethe CoMP data transmissions to the plurality of user equipments from thecooperating cell set, based on being configured to: schedule the CoMPdata transmissions to the respective groups separately using orthogonalresource blocks; and schedule the CoMP data transmissions to the userequipments in each group together using non-orthogonal resource blocks.